A detailed business case for the proposed Nullinga Dam is underway with Building Queensland leading its development in partnership with the project proponent SunWater.

The proposed dam is in far north Queensland on the Walsh River within Mareeba Shire Council, approximately 55 kilometres south-west of Cairns and 24 kilometres south-south-west of Mareeba.

To inform the demand profiles underpinning the detailed business case, a request for information has commenced.

Building Queensland and SunWater are seeking information from interested parties about their potential water requirements from the proposed dam to support business and agricultural opportunities in the Mareeba Dimbulah Irrigation Area. Information about the nature of potential demand, including preference of reliability and indicative prices, form part of the request.

The request for information is an important step in the business case as it will help inform the size of the dam. Estimates of the yield of the proposed Nullinga Dam have been undertaken and recent studies have identified that between 55,000 and 88,000 megalitres of medium priority allocations will be available; however, the final size of the dam will be subject to demand requirements. A mix of medium and high priority may be available should high priority be required.

The information obtained from the request is confidential and will inform the development of the detailed business case which is investigating the construction of Nullinga Dam as well as improvements to the existing water supply scheme.

The point of the business case for Nullinga Dam is to determine the feasibility of the proposed future water infrastructure project. Based on the preliminary business case analysis undertaken by Building Queensland in 2017, this project has been identified in Building Queensland’s Infrastructure Pipeline Report as a priority for the state.

The detailed business case is expected to be completed in Q2 2019. It will enable government to make an informed investment decision and further advancement of key environmental, planning and regulatory approvals.